Oblivious
by Rose Tinted Contact Lenses
Summary: Two-parter. Tali' Zorah knows that Shepard has obviously fallen for Ashley Williams... or has he?  Meanwhile, Ashley discovers something surprising and awkwardness ensues.
1. You like him, don't you?

_You may get more from this if you've read any or all of the following in the series: _Observation & Engineering, John, The Sound Of Silence. _However, this can be read as a standalone and work fine._

_Things are going to get a bit darker with stuff like Virmire and the move into ME2, so here's a bit of light cringey-ness to brighten the mood._

**Oblivious**

**Part 1**

**"You like him, don't you?"**

Tali' Zorah nar Rayya tries not to let her heart sink, relieved that her mask can't show her expression, as John laughs at something Williams has just said, quoting something to her - the rhythm identifies it as poetry. Oh _keelah, _they're quoting _poetry_ to each other... It confirms all her suspicions.

It's been obvious how he feels about the woman - the time he isn't with her or Garrus, he spends with Ashley. Years of being unable to see a friendly face have enabled her to read body language, and his indicates... _interest_, she is sure of it_. _Oddly, she isn't sure whether Ashley returns the feeling, but what does it matter?

She exhales, trying not to feel the sharp, cold disappointment brewing in the pit of her stomach - humans talk about the heart sinking, and the expression seems apt. Of _course _he'd choose the human: he can see her face, she can _breathe _around him without a helmet... Not that he would have thought of her as an option _to _choose anyway. She is maybe a friend - certainly another alien - to him, nothing more.

There is a sting at the back of her eyes, which she dismisses; they have a mission to get on with.

* * *

><p>She's surprised when Ashley walks up to her - the other woman never normally talks to her, but she has seen Shepard take her aside about something, looking... <em>angry<em>, of all things, even though she's never seen him lose his composure, and since then, the human seems to have been making more of an effort to talk to her.

"Hey." The greeting is unusually quiet.

Even though they've been on several missions together, Tali is awkward, not quite knowing what to do. "Oh... hello, Ashley."

"Something up? You... seem quiet." The human is as awkward as she is, her speech as halting as her own.

"I just..." She can't tell her what's _actually _wrong, so she just shakes her head. "Nothing." She looks up, knowing she needs to stay on guard - both for enemies and to stop herself tripping on the rocky terrain of this planet - but not being able to help but let her gaze drift to the man ahead of them. She swallows, her throat suddenly dry.

However, she very nearly stumbles at what Ashley says next, having clearly followed her gaze. "You like him, don't you?" The Gunnery Chief sounds quite startled at the realisation.

"_No!_" Tali protests desperately, her voice growing less confident as she continues, "It would be unprofessional... and the Fleet would never approve... He's a good man, but he's a friend, that's all..." She trails off miserably.

"Haven't you told him?" Ashley asks.

"But I don't... think about John that way..." Tali tries one last time, her voice fading.

Ashley raises an eyebrow. "_John?_"

_Keelah_, this is embarrassing...

* * *

><p>Shepard glances over his shoulder for something like the eleventh time in the last three minutes.<p>

Something's been bugging Tali for days - it's been obvious from the way she's seemed distracted whenever they talk. He can't help feeling a little disappointed that she hasn't opened up to him, but he figures that if she doesn't want to talk, he'll leave her be.

He also figured that it might be a "female problem", which was why he asked Ash to check up on her. That, and the fact that, after their little conversation about having other species on the ship where he had to bite his tongue not to accuse his friend of racism, he's been making excuses for her to spend as much time with other species as possible. He's trying hard to change her views; they're not exactly conducive to co-operation with aliens in the galaxy, and he's seen enough prejudice himself to know how destructive it is. He grits his teeth, trying to suppress a few unpleasant memories; there are always some who join the military to make war, not keep peace - it usually gets them killed pretty quickly.

He turns at the sound of Tali vehemently denying something. "Everything OK?"

He thinks he catches the word _bosh'tet_ under the surprised quarian's breath as she trips over a rock, flailing. Ashley grabs Tali's arm to stop her falling, trying not to laugh at something, then jogs ahead to join him.

"What was _that _about?" he asks.

Ashley looks at him. "Y'know, for someone who can quote Tennyson backwards, you are sometimes _really _dumb."

_No OOC-ness or character-bashing intended. Part 2 should be on Monday night._


	2. Scuttlebutt

_Sorry this one's __**really**__ short - things have been a bit hectic. I'm not going to make a habit of tiny word counts. The Virmire episode will be longer... and probably more depressing._

**Oblivious**

**Part 2**

**Scuttlebutt**

_"What?_" Shepard is confused. Even more confused than he was by the fact that Ashley keeps asking how Tali's doing all of a sudden.

"Well, since you and her are... well..." Tali's doing that nervous mumbly thing she does whenever she gets embarrassed and is really, _really _wishing she hadn't said something. Usually, it'd make him smile, but at the moment, he is mystified.

"Um, Tali," he says, "have you been listening to scuttlebutt?"

She puts a hand to her helmet in despair, and it's a gesture so... _human_ that, despite feeling sorry for her as he watches her cringe, Shepard can't help but smile. "I - I just assumed... I thought... You're always with her, and... Oh, Shepard, I'm sorry..." She's stumbling over her words, clasping and unclasping her hands. Shepard wonders when he started expecting her to do that - since when did her nervous body language become so familiar to him?

"I'm not offended," he laughs, "just a little... in the dark, maybe? I mean, that's like rumours being spread because I'm always down here with you."

As if Tali isn't embarrassed enough already. She tries to move away from the dangerous path this conversation is going down. "Yes, but of course, they wouldn't be _true_, would they, I mean..."

The last spark of hope she may have held that her feelings were returned is crushed when he says, "Well, no. Of course not. I can't spend time with a woman without there being something behind it?"

She assumes he is talking about Ashley until something occurs to her. "You... you think of me as a woman?" Unsurprisingly, she now feels the need to put her foot in her mouth. _Again. _Why does that always seem to happen around Shepard?

He looks her up and down, totally innocently, and her embarrassment increases a thousandfold. "Well, you're female, and you're an adult, so... yeah." He shrugs. "What's wrong with that?"

"I... nothing." Oh, this is _awkward._

* * *

><p>On the way to the Galaxy Map, he catches up with Kaidan, who voices his opinion on Dr. Liara T'Soni. Namely, the opinion that she's rather easy on the eye.<p>

Shepard frowns at him. "Do you have a thing about asari?"

Kaidan shrugs. "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying. Commander..." He takes a moment to gather his courage. "Do you have a thing about quarians?"

Shepard groans, slapping his palm to his face and saying, so quietly it almost can't be heard, "Scuttlebutt?"

Kaidan nods.


End file.
